


I want to adopt one of your children

by Leodine



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Coming Out, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Will Byers Gets a Break
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-13
Updated: 2019-09-13
Packaged: 2020-10-17 23:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,840
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20628974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Leodine/pseuds/Leodine
Summary: Robin sees Will; he's lonely, just like she used to be. She wants to give him a little bit of support and hopes that Steve accepts the shared custody.





	I want to adopt one of your children

**Author's Note:**

> This is just pure, self-indulging fluff

Robin had gotten used to hanging out with Steve after the battle of Starcourt, the both of them becoming unexpected friends. She was also getting up to speed, albeit not easily, because now she was in on a huge secret, one that could make her life a lot harder and more dangerous. The bargain seemed okay enough from her perspective.

One thing that was interesting though, was that hanging out with Steve meant having a lot of new friends – not that she would call them friends to their face. Steve’s children were smart, nice and tightly knit together in a way her friends and herself had never been at the same age. Not that they hadn't been able to be close. Robin had just held them at a distance, for a good reason.

Thus, when she noticed one of the children was always a bit behind, a bit quieter in their hangouts, she decided she would take that one under her wing.

It was the kid with a bowl cut, the one that had disappeared almost two years ago, Jonathan Byers’ little brother. William, her mind supplied after a few moments. After seeing him trailing behind his group of friends, one day when the little group had been out on what seemed to be another summer adventure, lost in thoughts once more, she stood up, startling Steve.

“What’s going on?” he asked, confused. They had been cloud watching; a very idle, very inane thing to do, but somehow, with Steve, it was fun.

“I want to adopt one of your children,” she finally said, shaking the dirt off her clothes with febrile fingers. She didn’t even know what she was going to do. Will seemed like a skittish child – for good reason, she now knew, and she did not want to scare him away.

“Adopt?” Steve repeated. “I do not even have rights over them, and you are going to steal them from me?” He jumped to his feet. His voice sounded slightly indignant, but Robin knew it was in all good fun. He followed her gaze and laughed. “Will Byers? I think out of everyone he’s the one who’s the least in need of adoption. Joyce Byers is a hell of a good mother.”

Robin knew that. It did not mean Will didn’t need her talking to him though. He was slowing down while the girl with powers – El – and the redhead – who called herself Max – were talking, Max showing skateboard tricks to El, ahead of the boys who were deep in a conversation about something, something that did not seem to interest Will in the slightest.

As she came closer, she could make out some words. Names even. They were talking about the two teenagers ahead of them, and another, Suzie. Oh. Yes, that girl Dustin had an impromptu duet with, while in a situation of life or death. Those damn children…

Will was not participating in the conversation, following the group with a defeated slump to his shoulders, pushing his bike with little to no motivation. Robin saw him stop and raise his head. “Guys,” he started, but his voice was too soft, and the others were too engrossed in their activities to notice him. Robin’s heart broke a little. Will’s shoulders started trembling, and she crossed the few feet that separated them with hurried steps.

“Hey,” she said, placing herself next to Will, not too close but enough so that he could see her as a friendly individual. “Hello,” she said again, her eyes meeting Will’s. He was tearing up.

“Hey,” he said, a bit bewildered. “Um. How- how are you?”

Robin melted there and decided she would fight Steve for custody. “I’m good, you?” She forced herself to say, feeling a bit ridiculous. Will nodded quickly, so she went on. “Do you wanna,” she paused, stealing a glance at Steve who was watching the scene from a safe distance away, “hang out, maybe?”

Steve’s eyes widened comically. _Hang out?_ He mouthed, looking at her like she had lost her mind.

Will frowned. “Do you want to see Dustin? Hang out with the Party?”

“No,” Robin said. “I- We want to hang out with you, actually.” That seemed to surprise the boy, and maybe it rightfully did. Robin and Steve were closer to Dustin than anyone else in the Party; getting locked in an underground Russian facility did that to a friendship. “Don’t you want to spend time with… uh… people who are single?”

Will did not really seem convinced, opening his mouth to reply to the proposition. But someone else talked before he could.

“Will?” It was the tallest boy in the group, with a dark mop of hair on his head. Mike. He was frowning. “You ok? Is she bothering you?”

Robin scoffed; as if! But she took another look at Will, and sure enough, he looked flustered, flushed cheeks and wet eyes. He smiled, however; a small twitch of his lips that seemed genuine enough. “No, not at all. Actually, guys,” he said, looking at his group of friends, “I had asked something to Robin, and she reminded me. I’m gonna let you guys go ahead and I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?”

Robin raised an eyebrow. She had not expected the kid to agree and to lie in the process. She hadn’t even told him why she wanted to hang out with him in the first place. Steve was closer now, and the group noticed him.

“Steve!” Dustin shouted. “How are you, man?”

“Henderson!” Steve replied. “I’ve never been better actually. You?”

“Great! Now, why is Robin trying to steal Will away?” Dustin was smiling but his question was not quite a joke. Mike’s eyes were gauging them.

“It’s like Will said,” Robin lied smoothly, “He’d asked me something and I have the time to reply to him today. It’s a huge coincidence, right Steve?”

Steve looked at her like she had grown two heads.

“Steve?” She repeated. This idiot was going to ruin her plan, made up in about two minutes.

Will spoke up again. “Listen, I’ll just go with Robin and Steve, I think it’s going to take a while, so I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?” The second time he said it was slightly strained. Mike looked really concerned this time.

“Will, if this is about-” he trailed off, looking guilty. El and Max were coming closer, faces bearing matching confused expressions, and Robin shortly wondered whether El would use her powers on her if she felt that they were lying. She saw Max say something to El, frowning. This was not reassuring at all, even if she _had_ spoken to Max before.

“It’s fine, guys. I’m a big boy, I can take care of myself.”

“But can they?” Lucas chimed in. It seemed like he had decided to accept Will’s decision, despite not really taking Steve or Robin seriously.

“Sure they can!” Dustin said. “I mean, Steve kicked some Russian spy’s ass, so…”

“I’m not sure he was an actual spy, Dustin,” Steve corrected.

“Same difference,” Dustin finished. “Anyway, Will is a big boy, like he said, and Robin and Steve are responsible enough for him to be safe with them. You guys can chill.” This was said with a big smile sent to Will, who mouthed a discreet _thanks_.

“If something happens to him,” Mike started, his tone dangerous. Then he took one look at Will and instantly deflated. He huffed. “We will see you tomorrow.”

Well, that did not sound like a threat at all.

“Sure,” she still answered, because there was no way she would get scared off by a 14-year-old boy.

El walked towards Will, her eyes intent on him. Neither of them spoke, but she eventually nodded. Will gave her a grateful smile and turned to Steve and Robin. “Let’s go then?” He waved goodbye to his friends, and that was it. Robin wondered if she was supposed to ignore the fact that El, the girl with powers, had been talking to Will, the boy who had disappeared to what now she knew was another dimension, without actually getting out a word.

“Does she read minds?” She asked when they had gotten far enough so that the small group’s stares weren’t burning holes behind her back.

“Who? El?” Will said. “I’m not sure she does, but I don’t know everything she can do.”

Steve had been a bit less brief with his goodbyes and was jogging to catch up to them. “Can you please explain to me why you have decided that Will needed kidnapping?”

“You guys talked without talking,” Robin pushed.

“I… I can’t really explain what happened,” Will said after a beat. “I’m sorry.”

“There’s nothing to be sorry for, buddy,” Steve assured. He was now walking right next to them, effectively putting Will in the middle. Good mother instincts, Robin noted. “Now can we talk about, uh, I don’t know, the reason why we are walking towards…” Steve paused. “Wait, are we going to my house?”

“Obviously,” Robin said. “You said your parents weren’t there and that you felt lonely. We’re a few hundred yards from there anyway.”

Steve scoffed. “Okay, Robin, you win.”

Steve’s place was great for hangouts. Mostly because as he had told Robin many, many times, his parents often left him to his own devices, because of business trips and mundane dinners. That sucked, that Steve had to live through that, but she felt a bit of comfort knowing he had close friends now, even if most of them were children. And that he had left the realm of normalcy and was trying to embrace his true self, whatever that meant – a pretty damn good babysitter, probably.

Will had never been there, Robin could tell, even if it wasn’t that far from where he lived. He was staring in awe at the huge house, the pool, the blatant signs of wellness, his bike forgotten against the wall on the front. Robin sighed.

“Welcome to the Harrington’s”, she said, her tone flat. She had kind of felt the same way when she had first visited him. Everything was too big, too bright, in a way that felt hollow. It was no surprise Steve was the way he was when his house was like _that_.

Robin and Will settled on the couch – huge, too clean to feel quite homely, but she and Steve were making progress – while Steve disappeared in the kitchen to prepare them a little something. “I won’t be long,” he assured. Robin waved at him with disinterest. Will was tense, sitting far from her.

“You know, you can come closer to me if you want to. I don’t bite,” she said, voice quieter than what she was used to.

“Alright,” Will answered, and he scooted closer to her.

“So,” she started. “I’ve noticed you looked sad back there?” Will frowned, his eyes unfocused. “You don’t have to talk to me about it, but I’ve found out that it helps, actually.” She laughed, then leaned in with a scheming smirk. “I’ve confided in Steve before, so you can try me. I’ll be better than him.” Truthfully, Steve had been great. But he had just confessed his feelings, and her timing hadn’t been the best. She had told him, with anxiety clawing at her heart. She hoped that somehow, she could make Will feel like he could trust her. She knew how it felt to be so different from her peers that it hurt. He took a deep breath, and she brought all her attention back to him.

Will’s lips were pinched, and he looked like he was trying to gather his thoughts. “I feel like I’m the only one who has yet to grow up.” He sighed, suddenly looking frustrated. “Everyone has their girlfriend, and they’re making out every day” he made a face at that, “and I’m left behind, probably because I’m still just a kid.”

Robin looked at the young boy in front of her. “Well”, she started, keeping her tone light, “if being a grown-up is making out with our girlfriends, then Steve and I are really lagging behind.”

Will’s eyes went wide. Robin noticed her slip up a bit too late, and she felt a wave of anxiety wash over her. Surely, she had not made such an easy mistake.

“Girlfriends?” He repeated, but his expression bore traces of barely contained hope and Robin got it.

“Yes”, she said, her voice a bit quieter, like they were sharing a confidence, which they definitely were.

Will did not add anything but nodded, gently, taking in her deepest secret with infinite care.

She could see now that she was not looking at him through the eyes of an almost adult but of a fellow outcast, how tired he seemed, too mature for his age, yet trying to hold on to his last innocent years. He was in his right to do so, she decided.

“You know you don’t have to rush”, she said, and Will was slowly relaxing in front of her. “I’m probably not the epitome of a regular high schooler, and Steve is also pretty much… a loser”, she said after looking for her words. Will smiled a bit at that, his expression still guarded.

“You know I can hear you,” Steve’s voice came down the hallway. He was arriving with some food. “I put something together last minute, I hope you won’t hate me for the taste.”

Will seemed frozen in shock, barely registering Robin’s dry ‘We already hate you’. “Y-you heard?” He asked.

Steve raised an eyebrow. “About Robin? I already knew.”

“And it doesn’t bother you?” Will managed, voice small.

“No. I mean. She likes girls.” Steve breathed out, somehow shakily. “I like both. Not a big deal.”

“It kind of is, dingus.” Robin was proud because she knew this had taken a lot of effort to come to. Steve smiled.

“I do not want it to be a big deal between us.”

Will was now frowning. “It’s possible to like both?”

“Yeah, I like girls and boys. Twice the heartbreak.” Steve laughed at that, light but still bitter enough that Robin knew it isn’t just a joke. She also knew because Steve couldn’t really stop talking about feelings when he was drinking, and she was often there when that happened these days.

“I-I had no idea,” Will said. He looked like he was about to cry. Robin put her hand on his shoulder, and when he didn’t flinch or pushed her away, she hugged him, tight. Steve put the food down and joined them in the hug – squatting, looking at Robin as if he were saying _So this is what we’re doing now, uh?_ Robin smiled at him.

“You’re okay Byers,” Steve finally said. “Robin likes girls, I like both.”

“And I like boys,” Will added, his voice muffled.

“And you like boys,” Steve said. “We are a merry band, aren’t we?”

Robin silently agreed. Will stayed in their hug for a while after that, to the point where Steve complained about his thighs being sore, making Will laugh. He let go of the hug, to set Steve free.

Will was smiling now, his cheeks a bit wet but his demeanor entirely different. He seemed a lot more at ease now, maybe because he knew that they were all in the same boat now, sharing secrets and being a tiny group of gay teens in Hawkins.

As it turned out, Steve’s food was more than decent – Robin already knew that, and Will wanted to stay and have a sleepover. They called Joyce, to tell her the news. It wasn’t that late, but Will felt like she needed to know early enough.

“I don’t want to worry her too much,” he explained as he dialed the number. “Thank you, Steve, for letting me stay here,” he added. “I really want to talk to you both about… everything.” It was said earnestly. Steve and Robin exchanged a fond glance as Will started talking again to Joyce. “Mom? Yes, I’m okay! I’m with Steve and Robin. I was wondering if I could sleep over at his house… Yes, he’s okay with it, mom.” Will was quiet for a moment, then gave the phone to Steve. “She wants to talk to you.”

Steve took the phone and greeted Joyce politely. Robin expected Will’s mother to check in with Steve if he was a trustful person. “Of course not, he won’t bother me. He wanted to talk about some things with us, and today was a good day. I’m sorry we did not plan this a bit better. I will take care of him.”

“So will I,” Robin added in a singsong voice.

When Joyce allowed Will to stay over – but getting them to promise to bring him home the next day – they set on preparing a very good meal (ordering pizza) and a bed worthy of kings (a huge blanket fort).

They laughed and talked and cried.

Robin learned that Will was trying really hard to forget his crush on his best friend and to accept that the girl who was with the boy he loved was becoming his sister. Will would get red-faced talking about his feelings.

“I hadn’t even realized I liked him until he told me it wasn’t his fault I didn’t like girls. I just thought: oh well guess what it is your fault. Kinda.” Will looked down shamefully. Robin put her arm around his shoulders, and he leaned in.

“That’s a pretty shitty move,” Steve commented, “does he know?”

“No, I never told him. I guess I realized I really didn’t like girls only recently. Everyone was right about me,” Will added with a small frown.

“Everyone is a piece of shit,” Robin noted. “Being gay is not a crime.”

Will looked at her with wide eyes. “I suppose so.” His grin after that looked a little bit brighter.

Steve leaned back against a chair that was supporting the fort. “But we could be gay _and_ do crimes at the same time. What do you think, Byers?”

“Uh, I’ll pass.” He smiled shyly. “Unless the crimes involve going to the movies illegally.”

“My god I had forgotten about that nightmare,” Steve said. “That was fun, I’ll let you have it.”

Will learned that Steve wasn’t really over Nancy, but that he also had another crush that would leave him a blushing mess. Robin assured him it was better if Will did not know who the mysterious individual was.

“Who is it?” Will asked for the third time after learning about the crush.

“You really do not want to know,” Robin said, Steve, shaking his head and crossing his arms over his chest.

“It’s like… really bad.”

“Is it a boy?” Will asked innocently, the calculating look in his eyes not so innocent.

“It is a boy and that’s all you’re getting from me,” Steve said. His cheeks were flushed a pretty scarlet.

“Let’s say Steve has a little something for people who could kick his ass,” Robin added cheekily. That earned her a surprised stare from Will.

“That is _not_ true,” Steve said with the face of a man who had had a horrible, life-changing realization. “Not true,” he repeated, less convinced.

“Keep telling yourself that.”

Will kept looking at Steve with narrowed, suspicious eyes for the rest of the evening. Robin almost wanted to push the joke further, but she felt kind of cruel. She decided to defuse the situation; she talked about Tammy and about the cute girl that would come to Scoops Ahoy, the one that completely ignored Steve’s antics.

“Tammy sounds like a muppet,” Steve retaliated after all the teasing he had suffered.

“Whatever,” Robin said. “Anyway, the girl from Scoops Ahoy did not care about Steve, which doesn’t mean a lot in retrospect," wounded look from Steve, "but was she cute.”

“What is she like?” Will questioned, his voice carrying his excitement. It seemed like the boy was more than pleased to talk about gay feelings. Robin was happy to give him just that.

“She’s really pretty, she’s got curly hair and sun-kissed skin.” It was Robin’s turn to blush, as she remembered the shy smile the girl had given her when she had taken her order. “Warm brown eyes, long eyelashes…”

“Robin’s gone for her,” Steve observed very wisely.

“Shut up, dingus.”

“I hope you can talk to her, ask her for her name too. It would be too bad if she was just the girl from Scoops Ahoy forever,” Will said, his voice playful.

“Hey, you’re not allowed to make fun of me, I practically raised you,” Robin said.

“You did not.”

“He’s already forgetting us, Steve. How are we going to survive his adolescent years?” Robin complained, her hand going to her forehead; her tone was completely flat despite her theatrics. Will was judging her in silence.

“I might know her name, now that I think about it,” Steve muttered, ignoring her completely.

“What the hell? Heck,” Robin adjusted, looking at Will, who just shrugged. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I just realized who you were talking about! She’s taller than you, a brown-haired girl?”

“Yeah,” Robin said. “Why do you know her?”

“Parties,” Steve explained. “She’s not from Hawkins but her cousin goes to our High School. Her name’s Michelle. You’re welcome.”

“Thank you, Steve,” Robin told him earnestly. “How could I ever repay you? I can try to get you a date with your secret crush-”

“Can you not? Rob, please.” Steve glanced at Will with a grimace, which made the boy consider him with even narrower eyes.

"I'll be merciful," Robin conceded. She was glad Will was here. She hadn't had that much fun in a long time; she felt like she belonged, even if she was with an idiot who had just finished High School and another who hadn't even started yet. And seeing Steve's flustered face when he talked about the objects of his affection was worth everything.

They ended up falling asleep in their fort all curled up together - Will safely tucked between her and Steve, a bit later than what was acceptable, after sharing many more embarrassing stories.

The next day, when Robin and Steve both brought Will back home and were offered coffee and food by a smiling Joyce, they felt it was okay. They were okay. They had each other, and Will was getting ready to tell his mom who appeared to be the sweetest mother one could ask for. Will was in good hands; Steve had been right. She could even be the next person Steve and Robin came out to. That thought alone gave Robin hope.

As they were getting out of the Byers’ house, Robin decided to tease Steve a bit longer. “But you never told him you had a crush on h-”

“No. Nope. We’re _not _doing that, Robin.” Steve said, but he was laughing. Robin laughed with him, and they were a little bit less lonely today.

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to give Will a lot of love after season 3 and have Robin and Steve give that to him! Also, Steve has a huge crush on Nancy and Jonathan in this because I'm weak for stoncy.  
It's my first work on AO3, I couldn't resist writing something for this wonderful trio.


End file.
